Belief Versus Doubt
by Forever Rewritten
Summary: No matter where you travel, the fact remains the same. People fear the dark. I always thought that was because of Pitch Black, his Fearlings, and the Nightmares. But there was one question I never asked: Where did Pitch come from? As I discovered, the fear of the dark preceded the Boogeyman. It even preceded the stars in the sky.
1. Prelude

The long awaited (I think) sequel to Belief after Childhood. I highly recommend reading that first, so you're not _completely_ lost.

Belief versus Doubt is going to be a bit different then its predecessor. Not really a happy, fluffy story as a more adventure-sort. It really expands how much different my little Belief-verse is compared to either the book or movie. I'm not saying it's completely different, but a mix of the two with some mythology mixed in. In the movie, it hints that our Guardians were all human once, where I've taken the book's approach that, save a few, most of them are their own species.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Unless they're spoilerrific, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Just don't expect an answer right away, I work full time and I don't always have time to answer my personal emails. Thankfully, I usually never work more than three days in a row, so yay! Then again, three twelve-hour shifts in a row are still hellish. As for updating, about once a week, but probably not on the same day. I already have a few chapters written, and the plot generally mapped out.

Let's see, one more to this: The time skip between the two stories will be in drabble form in: 'In Which Jack Frost Tries to Play Cupid'. And as far as pairings go...Bunnymund/Sophie will be the most obvious, hints of Jack/Mother Nature (don't ask, I don't know where it came from either) and a bunch of others, probably. Obvious, none of them are your typical pairings. Don't expect any typical pairings in here. I like crack, okay? (wait, that sounds wrong...)

Last but not least: None of the characters belong to me! Well, one or two might, but who cares about that?

* * *

**Prelude**

Stardust glittered on the floor in the dim light, twinkling like stars on the obsidian floor. The room was cold, far more than even the hardest of Jack Frost's icy blows or even Emily Jane's harshest cold snaps. Still, it didn't faze me as I strode across the remains of the Ancient's magic, the moonshard pendant allowing me to walk through the complicated webs of magic still present after all these eons. Finally the floor ended, leaving a chasm between me and the towering obsidian wall, so dark it seemed to suck all the light from the pendant and snuff it out. The fabled Ebony Veil. Where every dark and evil thing had been sealed by the Ancients at the start of the so called 'Golden Age.' The reason why every living thing feared the dark.

It had be a long time since I last stood here. Eons had past since we sealed this tomb,; we had been full of bravery, courage. We had in essence been the light that chased the shadows into their grave.

A slight sneer graced my lips. Memories of that time were no longer comforting, but bitter and disgusting. I was no longer that man. He was dead, suffocated by the darkness he tried to defeat. We had been foolish to think we could ever kill the dark. Hate, despair, and fear. They were eternal. Love was just a fleeting dream, joy a brief flash of light in the eternal night.

Hope a fool's dream that only made the truth more bitter.

This close to its antithesis, the moonshard had grown brighter than its namesake, yet still nothing was visible behind the Ebony Veil. I held the pendant up, sneering at the delicate blue crystal hanging on the silver thread wrapped around my fingers. The Guardians should have known better than to trust that silly rabbit with something so precious. Something this powerful when they knew the dance we had been sharing.

I untangled the necklace from my fingers before gripping it my fist, something in me twisting as the light fought in vain to escape my fist. I wasn't Kozmotis Pitchiner. Not any more. I was Pitch Black. I was the Nightmare King and the feared Boogeyman. There was no hope, no love for me. Just Despair. Hate. Desolation.

Fear.

A harsh roar escaped my throat as I tossed the moonshard into the Veil, it's light blinding until it passed the curtain of magic.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

_(Sophie)_

I heaved a great sigh as I dropped my bag on the floor and flopped back on my well-worn couch. As rewarding as my job as the fourth grade teacher was, it was also extremely exhausting.

Still, three years ago I could barely even have hoped my life would be this perfect. Which was ironic in a way. My boyfriend was the Guardian of Hope, after all.

The thought still sent butterflies tickling my stomach after all this time. Not only did Bunnymund love me, but we were somehow making our relationship work. Between his job as the Easter Bunny and mine as a teacher, never mind him being, well, him, and me being me. Then add the fact we were trying to keep everyone else in the dark, and well, things could have went south pretty easily.

But our relative distance and sometimes long intervals between seeing one another only seemed to make the time we did spend together more special, and more than a bit thrilling.

It wasn't for the fact we were ashamed of our feelings that we hadn't told anyone. Far from it, in fact. The reason we were keeping it a secret from my brothers and the other Guardians was because we worried about their reaction, but in different ways.

To our knowledge, nothing like this had ever happened before. Children knew _of_ the Guardians and legends, of course. After all, that was the source of their power and even their existence. But they never _knew _ the people and creatures themselves. And likewise, none of them really knew any child in particular.

At least, not until Jamie became Jack's first believer.

We knew a lot of them were still on the fence of children, who were now adults, being so familiar with the fable world. What would their reaction be finding out what had developed between us.

Of course, our discretion made thing rather awkward when Jack and Jamie tried to get us to confess to one another. Awkward and more than a little hilarious when they were dropping broad hints and we tried to play clueless. More than once I had to storm out of the room, pretending to be mad or embarrassed when in reality I just needed to hide until I could control my laughter. And I knew Bunny did the same when he abruptly made an exit into one of his tunnels.

I opened my eyes and looked out my apartment window into the dark sky. Winter was fast approaching, the sun had set despite it barely being seven. My co-workers complained bitterly of the approaching season, none of them looking forward to the magnificent winters Burgess had every year, I was more like our students and grew more excited as the last of the leaves fell. Understandably, winter competed with spring as my favorite season I loved snowdays, building snowmen with my nephew and niece, snow ball fights with both of my brothers, and just watching big fluffy white flakes fall slowly while being huddled indoors with a hot cup of cocoa. It was so much fun going ice skating on Jack's lake, and watching the beautiful patterns form on the windows and trees.

Sure, ice made it tricky to drive, but for me, everything else winter brought made up for its few downsides.

Plus, the stars always seemed brighter in the winter. From my spot on my couch, I had a perfect view of the night sky through my windows. There was one star that always attracted my eye. It was one of the brighter stars, it's light a very pale shade of blue. Silly as it was, I had claimed it in my mind as my wishing star. Whenever life got hard, or when I was anxious, or even when I was excited, I made a wish on it. After all, Jack Frost was my brother, who knew if the stories about wishing on a star could be true?

I leaned forward, my eyes closing as I whispered the old nursery rhyme: "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." I wanted this happiness to last. Everything was so good right now, I never wanted it to end.

I opened my eyes, and frowned when the bright star was no longer there. What had been the brightest star in the sky since I moved into the apartment over five years ago was just...gone.

"Do not fret, child. Not many wish upon me anymore, my presence won't be missed."

I jumped and spun around, only to see a tiny, dark-skinned woman floating behind me, traditional blue fairy wings beating softly to keep her aloft, her ball-gown like dress the same color as her wings. Her hair was the same color of the moon, and was pulled into an elaborate braid that fell around bare shoulders. She smiled softly at me. "Hello Sophie. I've been eagerly waiting for the day I could finally meet you."

"Um, thank you?" I started out, my mind still trying to process the surprised. Here I thought I had met all of the legends from Chronos to Jack Skellington. Who was she, and why was she here? "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met…" I paused for a moment, my tired brain finally making the connections. My hands jumped to my mouth in surprise. "You're- you're the wishing star!"

"Wishanna Star," she acknowledged with a slight nod. " I am not surprised you have not heard of me. A few hundred years ago I had hundreds of thousands of children whispering their wishes to me every night. Now only a few dozen. But you…" she whizzed about me, as if appraising me for something. "Even though you didn't believe in _me_, you believed in the power of wishing, of having hope even when things were grim." Wishanna paused in front of me, her eyes turning out to be a bluish purple like the twilight sky. "I have listened to wishes you made in your heart everyday, fueled by that rare eternal belief you share with your family. I have wanted to meet you for a long time, to tell you thank you for returning my diminishing power to me."

I felt my cheeks warm at the praise, and smiled in slight embarrassment, "Oh, well, you're...welcome? But, why haven't I heard of you before?"

Wishanna's expression became slightly sad as she buzzed past me and looked through my window, this time at the full moon that was just starting to rise above the skyline. "Unfortunately, I'm like Tsar Lunar. I tend to stay to myself, and rarely descend to earth. Even my peers barely know of me. But they know of you Sophie, even Tsar tells me stories of you. He does see all, you know." She glanced at me with a secretive smile on her face. "Even in small apartments and the Pooka's Warren."

This time my face felt hot enough to light the knew? Well, I would always talk to him, but I never really thought he was listening. He had the whole world of children to look out after, why pay attention to me? Especially now that I was grown.

Wishanna chuckled slightly behind a small hand."Relax, my dear. The love spun between you is something rare and beautiful. Cupid himself will curse the fact he neglected to nurture the bond between you and Bunnymund."

"Cupid knew?" I asked cautiously. I knew the Legend was both the cause of most childhood crushes and the rare lifetime love that grew from it. But I never given any thought he had known the affection I had tried to hide most of my life.

Wishanna nodded her head, "As I said, the love between you is rare and beautiful. Many could see your bond, but could not believe it could be anything more than platonic. He knows the heart as no one else can, and could see the truth. However, he was worried, as you are, about everyone else's reaction. So instead of tending to the budding seedling, he left it alone and attempted to wish it would wither. But wishes don't work like that. One, Manny and myself had high hopes for the pair of you, and two, wishing can't do any harm." Her lips quirked, her eyes taking an almost sad look. "You'd do well to remember that."

"Okay…?" I frowned, slightly confused. There was no way I could remember all of my wishes I had made through the years, but I was certain I never wanted anyone harmed.

My confusion only deepened when she twirled her hand and with a flash of light a small pendant hovered in the space between us. It was a soft blue crystal in the shape of a multi point star, slightly smaller than the palm of my hand. A very fine golden chain hung from it with a elaborate clasp securing it.

"For you, my dear," she offered, letting it fall into my open hand. Her head tilted as she looked expectantly at me. "Do you know what this is?"

The crystal was warm in my hands, a soft glow coming from it's center. For some reason the color and clarity of the crystal was familiar, but I couldn't place where from. It certainly wasn't like any of the gemstone I had seen before."No, I don't," I admitted, looking up at the fairy.

"You might have heard it called as a moonshard," the name did seem familiar, but nothing more. "Every Guardian and Legend has one," she continued, "and what they are is the belief in them. You see, when a child believes, a special magic is created. This magic is drawn to the Legend, and over time it coalesces and forms a crystal. But, this moonshard is special. This isn't belief from thousands of children."

I frowned, "It isn't?"

She shook her head slightly, her dusk-colored eyes focusing on the pendant."No, this is the belief, hope, and wishes of one child, gathered her entire life. This is the belief her family and friends have in her, the hope and love a certain Guardian holds for her." She touched the pendant with her hands, and something resonated as if someone had touched my heart. Realization struck me as her eyes met mine. Surely...surely I was misunderstanding her. This couldn't be what I thought it was!

Her words proved me wrong. "Tsar and I have been collecting it since your first visit to the Warren. Tsar could tell even then that there was something special about it. About you. And he was right, it has been little over twenty years since that day, and I have never seen a crystal grow so fast. Even Jack Frost's moonshard is little bigger after twenty years of being a Guardian, and almost three hundred years of being a Legend."

"But I-I'm no one," I protested weakly, focusing on the crystal. Why would people believe in me? Hope in me?

Wishanna flew up close to my face, her eyes narrowed. "You are far more than you realize, Sophie. The moment your brother started believing in Frost, your family became very important. The two of you have revitalized the belief of the whole planet; not only of the children in us, but us in the children. We had gotten so used to our duty we forgot why we became us. Despite the taboo Frost and Bunnymund broke bringing you into our world, seeing you and interacting with the children who believe in us has renewed us."

Her words shook me. I had never thought myself as important, a little different and unique, yes. But important? Special? Hardly! However, before I could reply, the lights of the lamps flickered off, leaving the apartment is darkness except the soft glow from Wishanna and the crystal in my hand. "Such a touching scene," a silk-like voice echoed out the darkness, bringing with it memories of some of the darkest moments of my life. "You always were one for dramatics and long speeches, Wishanna."

"Pitchiner," Wishanna accused, pulling a small fairy wand from somewhere. Her expression transformed into one seen many times on the Guardians' face when faced with the Nightmare King. "There is no fear here for you to feed upon. Leave us."

"How can you know?" Pitch scoffed, still hiding in the shadows that twisted around us. "You can only embolden hope and strengthen courage in those who wish it." The shadows grouped together and moved alongside the wall, almost like a ghost lurking in the corners of a haunted home. The thought made an unconscious shiver of fear trace along my spine. "There is fear here. For all her belief, fear and doubt still exists in sweet Sophie's heart. And in yours as well, Wishanna." Pitch cuckled slightly before carrying on in an amused tone. "Why else would you be here, trying to rally the troops, as it were, if you didn't fear the encroaching darkness?"

"The Ancients beat it before, we can do it again," she stated boldly, their words confusing me. I unconsciously gripped the moonshard tighter, trying to beat back the fear that was in my heart. I tried to remember what the others had told me, never be afraid of Pitch. Because it's when you fear him that he had power. But having the Nightmare King in my apartment was far different than seeing him fleetingly in the darker moments of my life. The rare time I had ever seen him truley, I had always been under the guard of the Guardians. My belief in them always overpowered any fear Pitch caused. I wished they were here.

Pitch stepped out of the shadows, his skin nearly pale as the moon, but darkened as to not reflect any light. He towered over the both of us, his silver-gold eyes holding a sinister light to them. "They were the Ancients. Spread across the universe with magic and numbers far more than this one tiny little planet. We destroyed the Golden Age despite your best attempts, what makes you think you can stop us now?"


	3. Chapter Two

Sorry for such the long wait! And that this is a rather short chapter for me. Obviously that update-once-a-week. Yeah, not gonna happen. Sorry. -.-

And yes, I'm aware that some of the things in this chapter contradict what happened in earlier chapters. Or rather, they appear to. It's all planned out, I assure you. -.^

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_(Bunnymund)_

The call resonated in my heart, a pull pleading me to follow so strong it initially knocked the breath out of me. I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling my heart pound beneath. Never had I felt a summon so strong, or so had their own way of calling for aid, but never in my many years had I felt one such like that.

What the heck was that? Or rather, who?

Instantly my mind whispered Sophie, but that was impossible. Sure, her locket I gave her allowed her to access to my tunnels, but it couldn't call me. Not like that.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Whoever it was, they were in desperate need for help. I left the tender seedlings I had been tending to, trying to encourage them to mature before Easter, and set off as quick as I could towards the tunnels, letting my heart and instinct guide me.

Except at I followed down a familiar tunnel, realization where it was leading me dawned. Surely not. Please, my heart had to be wrong. Sophie was not in trouble. My girl should never, ever, be that scared. I pushed myself harder as I bounded down the well-worn path. If that was Sophie, then there was no time to think how she was able to summon. No time to worry what awaited me on the other side. I just had to. _ . _

It was night in Burgess, but the darkness awaiting me in Sophie's apartment was unnatural. Sophie's startled cry as I erupted out of the floor went unnoticed as I came face to face with Pitch himself. The boogeyman looked as surprised by my appearance as I was of his, but conscious thought was suppressed by the fact the bastard was in my girl's home, scaring her more than I had ever known.

"Get out," I growled at the dark Legend as I brandished my boomerang. Pitch's expression melted to his own self-assured smirk as the shadows in the room swirled around him, forming his trademark scythe.

"How pathetic, the Easter Bunny at a human's beck and call. How the mighty have fallen," he sneered before swinging the dark blade towards me. I easily dodged it, tossing my own weapon one way as I dodged the other way. Predictably, his attention focused on it, allowing me to bound towards him, catching him by surprise when my foot knocked his legs out from beneath him. He fell to the ground, but instead of landing on the floor, he melted into the shadows before my fist could meet his face.

"Love really has made you weak," his voice called out from behind me. I spun to see him stepping out of the shadows as if nothing had happened. What was more worrying was he had appeared right behind Sophie. Her already wide green eyes grew wider still in fright as she too spun around, backpedaling away from Pitch. I raced forward, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her behind me. Pitch's smile only widened. "Feel that, rabbit? The fear of losing someone you love? Such a terrifying prospect, isn't it?"

Sophie's hand twisted with mine, her presence chasing away the fear he was trying to plant."I'm not scared of losing her, mate. I know I can beat you and keep her safe."

"And he's not alone," another voice piped up, a small bright yellow light darting towards us. It took me a moment to recognize Wishanna Star, the reclusive fairy that lived with Manny. "I have watched this child grow and will do my part to protect her. As will her family."

As if that was his cue, Jack Frost burst through the window with a chilly gust of wind, his usual playful blue eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Pitch?" He snarled as he quickly took his place by my side protecting Sophie, his staff clutched tightly in his hand. Before Pitch could respond, one of North's portals opened up, depositing the Guardian of Wonder, already brandishing his dual swords. Toothania flew through the window Frost had left opened, her small hands curled into fists when she spotted Pitch.

Last but not least, Sandman in a whirl of Dreamsand. His short stature full of determination and simmering rage. There was no way Pitch was going to do anything to Sophie now. I felt her relax behind me, no longer tense with fear but leaning against my back for support. Whatever fear Pitch had been feeding off of started to dwindle, the shadows were growing weaker, the light from Wishanna as well as Sandy's Dreamsand growing stronger. Even Manny's light seemed to be breaking through the shadows.

But there was another, brighter, light coming from somewhere. I glanced down to see shadows cast across the floor; a bright, brilliant white light coming from a star-shaped crystal hanging off a chain in Sophie's hand.

Was that...a moonshard? But where did it come from? Whose was it, and why did she have one?

Pitch's eyes were considerably narrowed, no longer gloating but furious. They were also focused on Sophie's moonshard. Was that why he was here? He couldn't touch the moonshard unless it was his, or its owner allowed it.

Besides, what use would he have for it?

"Even together, you're not bright enough," Pitch threatened, looking away from the crystal towards Wishanna. "The darkness is coming. You can't stop it."

Ever the melodramatic, Pitch withdrew into the shadows, letting light back into the small apartment. The lamps that decorated the room flared to life, returning the dark battlefield into Sophie's apartment. I had a sigh of relief before having Sophie in my arms, her face buried in my chest. I didn't care that the other Guardians were there, or any of that.

"It's okay, love," I whispered, one arm around her waist and another twisted in her hair. I pressed a long, hard kiss to her head. I had no clue what that was all about, but Pitch appearing in such a blatant manner was terrifying. "I got ya."

"Wishanna!" North greeted the fairy loudly. "It has been long time! What brings you away from the stars?"

"Very terrible circumstances, yet a joyous occasion." I looked up to the fairy, who hovered in the middle of the circle that had formed. The years hadn't changed, her hair still platinum white and her skin almost as dark as the night sky. "Tsar sends his greetings, and apologizes he has not sent word ahead of me."

"What word?" I asked, though it sounded a bit gruff. The fact she was admitting it was something bad meant it was _extremely_ not good.

Wishanna looked towards us, "The Veil has been shattered, and the darkness that the Ancients sealed has been unleashed."

My hold on Sophie tightened slightly. That was one story I remembered well from all the ones that spoke of the days before the Golden Age. By the looks on the other's faces, they knew exactly what that meant. Except Jack, and Sophie, looked clueless.

"What veil?" Jack asked, leaning on his staff. "For that fact, who are you?"

"Wishanna Star," she introduced with a slight flounce. "The Guardian of Wishes. Like Tsar, I watch over children from afar, granting the innocent wishes of their hearts. And the Ebony Veil is a prison."

* * *

_(Wishanna)_

A deep breath escaped my lips. This was going to be difficult. Everyone but the youngest in the room knew what I was speaking of. The innocence I was about to take...it needed to be done, but I wouldn't enjoy it.

"A long, long time ago, everything was is darkness. There was no light, no hope, no love. Nothing that we Guardians and legends stand for. It was just nothingness, a void where life merely existed.

Then the seven sisters, whom we simply call the Ancients, defied the darkness and the shadows. They worked together, focusing on their love for one another, and together created the first stars that pierced the darkness. Everyone rejoiced in the light given off by the stars, and their happiness and joy only made the light brighter.

The darkness saw the light, and how everyone loved it. It grew to envy the light, and then it began to hate it. The darkness tried to smother the light, but the light was too strong. The sisters' bond only grew stronger and their stars drew closer together, creating the first constellation, the Pleiades. Everyone saw how beautiful, how strong the light was, so more and more people banded together, creating more stars and even more light.

Unfortunately, the light only caused the darkness to grow darker still. The shadows went from being nothing to becoming the opposite of the light. Not just fear, but despair, hate, and eventually, even evil was born from it. It was when evil was born, the ancients decided that the darkness needed to be contained if it could not be destroyed. There was no possible way for the two to coexist peacefully.

There were long, horrible fights. Bloody and ruthless, they shattered the early world into several, each one broken and flung away from one another. Finally the Ancients were able seal away the darkest of the shadows into a great cliff. We called it the Ebony Veil because of how dark it was. Sealed by the strongest magic, it was supposed to be eternal. As long as Belief existed, it would keep the Darkness locked away."

"And now it's not," Jack breathed, his pale blue eyes wide. I nodded my head, glancing around Sophie's apartment at the other Guardians. Only Sandy knew what it was like back then. The rest of them, as old as they were to the people of Earth, were so young compared to us of the Golden Age.

No, that wasn't true. Pitchener was even older than Sandy. One of the most treasured Heroes of the Golden Age. Corrupted by that which he defeated. He knew what it was like, before, during, and after. It was...sad, that he was the one bringing that original darkness back.

"But-but why?" North huffed. waving his swords before a look from Toothina made him lower them. "Why would Pitch unleash it?"

"Tsar is not sure Pitchner did," I answered. "He is sure to keep an on him, whenever he can. Pitchner never left this world, not that he ever saw."

"And Manny can see everything," Toothina whispered from her spot draped on the arm of one of the armchairs. Sandy, who was sitting in the chair, patted her arm reassuringly. Her thin fingers twined with his, "But, who then?"

"Someone old enough to know of the location of the Veil, and powerful enough to break it," Bunnymund finally spoke. This was one of the rare times he and Frost could be in the same room without trying to outdo each other. Both sat on the couch, Sophie squeezed between them, each hand twined with one of theirs. No one seemed to notice the pendant now stuffed in her pocket. "There's not many of those left. Pitch Black and his Fearlings made sure of that."


End file.
